


Harry Potter (3) : Neville ‘Two-Kiss’ Longbottom

by Madzie2000



Series: Star Ships: Best Non-canon Couples of TV and Film [12]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Goblet of Fire AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 23:09:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9146200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madzie2000/pseuds/Madzie2000
Summary: Neville was said to be the clumsiest person in Gryffindor... however, this is proved false on the night of the Yule Ball.





	

Ginny and Neville were the first couple to take to the floor after the four TriWizard Champions, including Ginny’s crush, Harry Potter. In a strange synchronisation, they both looked over to Harry with one of the Patil sisters in his arms.

“Don’t stare too long Ginny,” Neville whispered “He’ll get suspicious.”

Ginny looked back at Neville in his black suit, white shirt and tie. Considering that he was supposed to be the clumsiest student in the school, had an outsider entered the party, they would tell the informant that they were lying.

“Don’t worry Neville,” Ginny said with a small smile “I won’t leave you and Harry is too busy trying not to drop his date.”

Ginny and Neville glanced back at Harry and the Patil sister he was dancing with, his movements a little stiff and lifeless. Neville could see Fred & George watching him with stern expressions and gave them a smile. It came time for Neville to literally sweep Ginny off of her feet and he knew the twins would be watching him extra closely. They were protective of Ginny and Ron, Percy and Hermione were close followers. Grabbing onto her hips and lifting Ginny up in the air, Neville executed the choreography perfectly. Ginny giggled and gave Neville a hug. Fred and George whistled, catching quite a few people’s attention, including Neville’s. They mouthed the words ‘Good on you!’ and Neville felt proud of himself for the first time in a long time. Perhaps this year was **his** year to enjoy life. He went to a table with Ginny and they collected a decently-sized goblet of pumpkin juice, sitting in chairs and watching her brother Ron dance with the other Patil twin.

“Your brothers should have danced with the Patil’s, Ginny,” Neville said, thinking aloud “Then nobody would know who anybody was... that’s as close as they could get to invisibility.”

  
Ginny laughed and took a sip of the juice, watching a couple of the teachers join in with the dance. The cutest couple seemed to be Hermione Granger and the Bulgarian Quidditch player Viktor Krum. Hermione brought the grace while Viktor claimed the strength: they were polar opposites on the outside. Now that Ginny had paid some close attention to them, she realised that they were just like herself and Neville.

“Opposites attract, huh?” Ginny said aloud, voicing her thoughts.

Neville put out a hand for Ginny to take and they danced into the late hours of morning. The traditional dance had finished a half hour before their meal, the modern, fast-paced concert had been gone for at least three hours post-dessert and the slow couple’s dances had begun. Ginny looked to her right, marking out two odd but strangely adorable couples still on the floor. Hagrid was dancing with his head against the bosom of Madame Maxime. She was the Headmistress of a girl’s school that her newest friend attended. Her sister was TriWizard Champion Fleur DeLacour, whom she knew had taken Ron’s fancy. Neville followed one of Ginny’s small fingers as she pointed at Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore dancing elegantly to their left, a few steps away from Hagrid and his ‘date’. Ginny smiled at them and told Neville that they were probably in classes together when they were younger. Upon hearing their ages, Ginny went white and said nothing for a while, chancing a glance in the direction of Ron and Harry.

“Ron looks upset... oh bloody hell!” Ginny said, shocking Neville “There went his date!”

“That might have been Harry’s...” Neville added as nervousness closed up his throat.

Now that he’d said it, Ginny was probably going to run over and leave him alone. She’d be with Harry and he’d go up to bed a little past ten, full of a familiar disappointment. Ginny hugged Neville and he was sure Ron would come over and slap him.

   
“What was that for?” Neville said in surprise when two small brown eyes looked up at him.

“Well you invited me, taught me how to dance **and** you didn’t drop me or step on my toes,” Ginny said confidently “Anything wrong?”

“No,” Neville said quickly “I was just worried that Ron would...”

Neville’s voice trailed off when he realised that Harry, Ron and their dates were definitely gone now.

“... be mad,” he finished.

“Well I need to get some sleep,” Ginny said kindly “Have a good night Neville.”

Standing on tiptoe, Ginny gave Neville a quick peck on the cheek and dashed away from him like Cinderella did in the fairytale, because the clock had struck midnight. With blushing cheeks, Neville went up to the Astronomy Tower, put his legs through the rails and pondered what he should do with the rest of his night. A few hours before the bells rang out, he had a bright idea. He had joked about it earlier but surely she’d appreciate being danced with... so Neville knocked on the door of the girl’s lavatories, having made a long detour to the common room in Gryffindor Tower along with an arduous task that followed soon after it.

“Myrtle? It’s Neville Longbottom. Would you like to dance with me in the Great Hall? I found a dress for you if you’d like to wear it.”

Myrtle stuck her head out of the door for the first time in over four decades.

“So... you won’t throw books at me or call me names?” Myrtle sobbed in her droning high-pitched voice.

“Of course not,” Neville said with a smile as he stepped back “Everybody laughs at me too so I’d be just as bad as them.”

Myrtle gave an elated shrill and moved out into the hallway without thinking about the Basilisk. She didn’t think about the boy either... for the first time in what seemed like forever, Myrtle was genuinely happy. Pulling the dress over her head, Myrtle smiled and turned to so that Neville could do up the sash at the back. A ghost from a painting had guided him to a place where a dress was hidden: The Room of Requirement. Inside he had found all sorts of furniture, including a small cupboard that was filled with old clothing. Inside he had found the dress; it was pale purple in colour with a black sash at the waist. It tapered outward from the middle in a slanted line like an upside-down ‘v’. Myrtle smiled and allowed herself to be led away to the Great Hall where she danced with Neville until daybreak. They had spoken about their bullies, the common insults and – somehow – Myrtle had made a friend in Neville. The school bell would chime soon and Neville knew that he had to be in bed before it did.

“Should I take you back?” Neville asked as he hung his shoes around his neck, the laces having been tied together skilfully with Myrtle’s help.

“You should be in bed sleeping,” Myrtle said with disappointment in her tone “and I’ll be back in the lavatories, dead as a doorpost.”

“Well... goodnight Myrtle,” Neville said as she dropped the dress for him.

Myrtle kissed his cheek (but not the one Ginny had kissed) with her ice-cold lips and flew away with a happy cry. Smiling to himself and humming the songs of the night to himself as he made his way to bed, Neville felt a little light-headed. He asked Harry if he was okay after he’d woken up from a nightmare because of the sweat and the way his eyes widened. Harry told Neville that he was and that had been the last of it. The next morning everyone in the Gryffindor common room heard Neville’s story and he received his first and (according to Fred & George) most unlikely nickname: **Neville Two-Kiss**.


End file.
